Joe Yates
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A ballerina whose parents have been found guilty of child-abuse has begged the judge to drop the charges.
An Australian couple, both aged 47, will both serve prison sentences for the years of child neglect, which left their 17-year-old daughter weighing the same as a nine-year-old, at just 60 pounds.
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The pair, who have not been identified to protect the anonymity of their daughter, were found guilty of failing to provide emotional, social and functional development to her, ABC.net reports.
Their abuse only became apparent when she was admitted to hospital, lacking adequate nutrition - with doctors explaining that she was so malnourished that doctors stated she was at risk of cardiac arrest and possible death, while her skin was flaking and hair brittle.
Witnesses at the hospital revealed how her parents took her to use the toilet, where it was revealed in court that the adolescent teen even had her bottom wiped for her - and her parents would still blow her nose.
Concerns were first raised, however, when the girl’s ballet teachers grew suspicious about how gaunt she had become - with ballet being the only form of social interaction the homeschooled child had.
Judge Linda Black also found how their family home contained nothing 'even remotely age-appropriated', with the shows she was allowed to watch more suitable for toddlers, like Teletubbies and Thomas the Tank Engine as well as Frozen.
In November 2024, her dad was sentenced to six-and-a-half years behind bars, while her mom will serve five years in jail.
Their cells will be a sharp contrast to the lives they lived on the outside where they resided in a wealthy suburb of Perth.
Despite her parents' awful behavior, which included her dad forging her birth certificate to make out she was younger than what she was, the now-young lady wrote a letter to the judge pleading for her to drop the charges.
“I’m fully dependent on my parents. All my living expenses are paid by my parents, including clothes, food, money as I need it. My university fees are being paid by my parents," she wrote.
“I love my parents very much. They are the most important people in my life. If my parents go to prison, I don’t think I’ll be able to cope."
The court heard how her dad was in denial that she was starved, claiming his daughter - who is now 20 - was simply a 'fussy eater' and that she was given three meals a day, as well as snacks.
He also suggested her weight may have been because of her allegedly choosing to stick to a vegetarian diet since the age of eight, before going completely vegan in her early teenage years.
Her dad's lawyer, Oliver Paxman, claimed the young woman's malnourished state wasn't down to his client.
"This was never a case about withholding food from a child," he told CNN.
"My client didn’t starve his kid … He never withheld food from her. He loved and spoiled his daughter. She was free to eat as much as she wanted. This case was about inadequate nutrition from a vegan diet."
However, the Judge Black disagreed stating during sentencing that it was 'not a case about a malnourished ballerina'.
Adding: "You isolated your daughter, you prevented her from growing up, you prevented her from developing in the way she was entitled to. You did keep her as a little girl long beyond the age where she should have been."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.